Bennie (Bennie) G. Thompson (D-USH02)
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Capitol: 202.225.5876
FAX: 202.225.5898
District: 662.455.9003
District FAX: 662.453.0118
Representative
Room 2466 RHOB- Rayburn House Office Building 50 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20515-2402

Residence: Bolton, MS
Elected: 1993    Next Election: 2024
Spouse: London Johnson   DOB: 1/28/1948
Committee Assignments
RM MemberHouse Committee on Homeland Security
Co-ChairCongressional Task Force on Election Security
Co-ChairRock and Roll Caucus
Co-ChairCongressional Disaster Equity and Building Resilience Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Battlefields Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Rural Housing Caucus
Co-ChairInterstate 69 Congressional Caucus (I-69)
FC MemberCongressional Business Owners Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Rice Caucus
Co-ChairCongressional Morocco Caucus
FC MemberHouse Rural Education Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Robotics Caucus
Vice ChairCongressional Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caucus (HBCU)
FC MemberTennessee Valley Authority Congressional Caucus
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology
FC MemberCongressional Fertilizer Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Peanut Caucus
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security
FC MemberCongressional Caucus of Former Local Elected Officials
FC MemberCongressional Caucus on Colombia
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection
FC MemberCongressional Natural Gas Caucus
Ex-OfficioHouse Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement
FC MemberCongressional Fraternal Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Working Forests Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Global Health Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Rural Caucus
FC MemberRural Health Care Coalition
FC MemberCongressional Biotechnology Caucus
FC MemberHouse Diversity and Innovation Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Baseball Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Financial Security and Life Insurance Caucus
FC MemberNorthern Border Caucus
FC MemberBipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus
FC MemberTextile Caucus
FC MemberNational Heritage Area Caucus
FC MemberOut of Iraq Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Gaming and Entertaining Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children's Caucus
FC MemberGerman-American Caucus
FC MemberU.S.-China Working Group
FC MemberCongressional Caucus on the Mississippi River
FC MemberCongressional Caribbean Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Glaucoma Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Urban Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Automotive Caucus
FC MemberCongressional JOBS NOW! Caucus
FC MemberHouse Afterschool Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Military Families Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Caucus for Competitiveness in Entertainment Technology (E-Tech Caucus)
FC MemberCongressional Kidney Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Manufactured Housing Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Shipbuilding Caucus
FC MemberUnited States Coast Guard Caucus
FC MemberJob Corps Caucus
FC MemberAmerican Canadian Economy and Security Caucus (ACES)
FC MemberCongressional Boating Caucus
FC MemberLaw Enforcement Caucus (House)
FC MemberCongressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans
FC MemberBrain Injury Task Force
FC MemberCongressional HIV/AIDS Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Heart and Stroke Coalition
FC MemberHouse General Aviation Caucus
FC MemberRenewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
FC MemberHouse Manufacturing Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Ports Opportunity, Renewal, Trade, and Security [P.O.R.T.S.] Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Wine Caucus
FC MemberHouse National Service Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Career and Technical Education Caucus (CTE)
FC MemberCongressional Taiwan Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Caucus
FC MemberBicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease
FC MemberCongressional Sportsmen's Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Black Caucus
FC MemberExpand Social Security Caucus (House)
FC MemberCoalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE)
FC MemberCongressional TRIO Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Caucus on Foster Youth
FC MemberCongressional Fire Services Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Progressive Caucus
FC MemberCongressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
FC MemberCongressional Diabetes Caucus

Bio

Congressman Bennie G. Thompson is an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District. Congressman Thompson claimed his seat in the House on April 20, 1993. He is a native of Bolton, Mississippi, and considers it an honor to walk the path Mississippi civil rights icons paved decades ago. Congressman Thompson understands the challenges many families in Mississippi face each and every day.

Serving his 16th term in the United States House of Representatives, Congressman Thompson has spent his entire career fighting to improve the lives of all people. He is the longest-serving African American elected official in the State of Mississippi and the lone Democrat in the Mississippi Congressional Delegation. He began his grassroots political activism being a civil rights champion through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) while a student at Tougaloo College. He organized voter registration drives for African Americans throughout the Mississippi Delta on behalf of the organization before graduating and following in the footsteps of his mother by becoming a schoolteacher.

Congressman Bennie G. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo College in Political Science and a Master of Science degree in Educational Administration from Jackson State University. From 1969 to 1972, Thompson served as alderman in his hometown, before serving as the city's mayor from 1973 to 1980. During his time as mayor, Thompson improved the city's infrastructure by paving roads, fixing the water and sewer systems, and repairing and renovating dilapidated houses; all while spearheading the construction of city hall and re-evaluating the town's real estate.

Thompson was a founding member of the Mississippi Association of Black Mayors where he instituted policies and provided services benefiting Bolton's underserved. The selfless service Thompson provided for his hometown was increased when he was elected as a Hinds County supervisor, a position he held from 1980 until 1993. The then-supervisor's record of being a pragmatic local servant was embraced by constituents in Mississippi's most populous county.

In 2000, Thompson was a lead author and sponsor of a measure that created the National Center for Minority Health and Health Care Disparities. Congressman Thompson served on the Agriculture, Budget, and Small Business Committees before assuming the top Democratic position on Homeland Security in 2005. Congressman Thompson was promoted to serve as the first-ever Democratic Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee by his colleagues.

On July 1, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi named Rep. Thompson Chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Under Chairman Thompson's leadership, the bipartisan committee conducted a thorough investigation of the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack and worked to ensure nothing like that attack ever occurs again. The Select Committee presented its findings about a multi-part effort to overturn the 2020 election, reflecting the body of evidence the committee has amassed more than 1,000 interviews and hundreds of thousands of records.

Most recently, Congressman Thompson received the Chairman's Award during the 2023 NAACP Image Award. The honor recognizes Thompson's advocacy for civil rights.

Congressman Thompson is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (Gamma Rho - Tougaloo College) and a lifetime member of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Bolton, Mississippi. He has been married to his college sweetheart, London Johnson of Mound Bayou, Mississippi for 54 years. The couple has one daughter, one granddaughter, and one grandson. Thompson is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys gardening, reading, and listening to the blues.